


Confidentially Speaking

by unbelievable2



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 01:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3339314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbelievable2/pseuds/unbelievable2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's nothing wrong with a professional conversation between two doctors, is there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confidentially Speaking

**Author's Note:**

> A ficlet using the prompt "shadow" from Sentinel Thursday challenge #520

Deep in concentration over the X-rays pinned to the light-box, it took him a while to realise that another white coat stood politely next to him in the dim little consultation room. He looked up with a friendly, if slightly puzzled smile; this was not a face he recognised, surely?

 

“I’m sorry, Doctor… er… Did you want me?”

 

The other returned the smile with an easy familiarity. A good-looking young buck, thought McCoy, still racking his brains for a name. Well, on reflection, maybe not quite so young as first appeared, but he’d surely have the nurses’ desk in an uproar every time he walked past.

 

“I’m really sorry to impose like this, Dr McCoy,” said the other, giving a conspiratorial look back towards the door, where a glass panel gave a limited view of the corridor outside. “But that young man in 516? It seems an odd thing for me to ask you, I know, but I just have the feeling I know him from somewhere, that he’s a former patient, but I simply can’t recall the name. And you know what patients are like – they think we remember every intimate detail!”

 

He gave a rueful grin, and rolled his eyes. McCoy nodded sympathetically; hell, he was having trouble with other doctors’ names nowadays, never mind the patients. Had he seen this guy before? Lord, the new staff just kept flowing through this place…

 

“Well, as a matter of fact, he’s my patient,” he replied genially. “And considering how many times he’s been inside these walls, I should think most doctors in this hospital know him by now. Oh yes, that young man was a veritable jack-in-the-box in the early years – in and out of here all the time - but nowadays things seem a little calmer. Maybe that hulking great detective that’s always with him isn’t putting him in harm’s way quite as often as he used to!”

 

“Ah,” nodded the other, “but you see, that’s my problem. I’ve only just arrived in this hospital. I’m wondering whether I’ve met him elsewhere – back East maybe?” He furrowed his brow. McCoy shook his head with a smile.

 

“Oh, don’t trouble yourself, Doctor. That young man’s name is Blair Sandburg, and to my knowledge, he hasn’t lived fulltime outside of Cascade since his teens.”

 

The other doctor gave a theatrical sigh of relief, and clapped McCoy on the shoulder. McCoy did his best not to flinch; oh dear, being tactile was such a trend nowadays – not his style at all…

 

“Well, I am most grateful to you for dealing with my quandary, Dr McCoy! I can go back along the ward more easily now. I hate to offend patients, no matter how unreasonable they are!”

 

“Well, that does you credit, Doctor… ah…” 

 

McCoy tried again, but the other man failed to take the hint. Instead, he was now staring closely at the X-rays glowing ethereally on the light-box. McCoy shrugged to himself, and continued: 

 

“But personally I find that as I get older I am less inclined to suffer patients gladly. Detective Ellison is just the sort of patient – and next of kin for that matter – that you and I dread to have on our books, quite frankly. Surly, taciturn, unforthcoming on his own behalf, but should anything happen to Mr Sandburg… then goodness me, it’s like the Wrath of Job! He seems to think he owns the goddamn hospital.”

 

He paused, a little shocked at his own outburst.

 

“Still,” he continued, feeling that he had bad-mouthed the big detective a little too heartily to a relative stranger, “they are police partners and I know that can be an especial bond, so I suppose I should cut him some slack.”

 

“Is this what he’s in for?” asked the other absently, still peering at the X-rays. “I mean, that Mr Sandburg looked pretty healthy from where I… I mean, from what I could see, glancing in the room.”

 

“Oh, in general he’s healthy as an ox, in fact,” nodded McCoy, easing politely past the other man to start unclipping the X-rays. “But there are times when even I want to do some double-checking. They both took a dip in the Bay today, chasing some drug traffickers, apparently, and Mr Sandburg in particular was pretty waterlogged. And he has a pre-existing condition that arose from another watery experience…”

 

He pointed at an X-ray still illuminated on the wall. 

 

“He had an unfortunate accident some years ago; almost drowned. Well, in fact he did, his heart stopped several times. Somehow they kept him going. But there has been lung damage.” 

 

He indicated a corner of the picture. 

 

“Look, see that shadow? I assume that’s what caught your interest before. Yes, it’s scarring from that accident. It will always be there now, of course, so every time he takes some lungsful of water, or his breathing is affected in any other way, we take a look to check that it’s not deteriorating. Which I’m glad to say it’s not. That said, I’ll keep him in for observation tonight. To be honest…” – he lowered his voice, as if anyone could overhear them in that tiny room – “it’ll get Ellison off my back.”

 

The other man stepped back and let McCoy take the rest of the X-rays.

 

“Well, even though I don’t know him, I’m glad he’s doing well,” he mused, adding, “So he leads an active life, then, despite the drowning? No heart problems, no other complications? I mean, nothing that would stop him travelling or … I don’t know… dealing with extreme conditions, unusual stress and so on?”

 

McCoy turned with a frown.

 

“Those are very specific questions, Doctor. Are you sure you don’t have an interest in some way? Patient confidentiality, and so forth, you know…”

 

The other man shook his head vigorously.

 

“I’m so sorry, Dr McCoy! It’s just my natural curiosity getting the better of me, I’m afraid. I am constantly fascinated by how the human body recovers from the most serious traumas. Well, I suppose that’s why being a doctor is so interesting.”

 

“Only one of the many reasons, I should say,” rejoined McCoy, still frowning.

 

The other man shrugged apologetically.

 

“Forgive my forwardness. I’ll leave you in peace, Dr McCoy. I’m sure you will be wanting to get back to your patient.”

 

McCoy considered the man, and then shrugged himself, patted his X-rays to a pile and slipped them into a folder.

 

“Indeed, and if I want to avoid another confrontation with Ellison, I’d better not dawdle,” he chuckled. “Luckily, he was recalled to his precinct this afternoon, but he’ll be back in the evening, for sure.”

 

“That’s good to know,” smiled the other man. McCoy wondered vaguely why the man’s response puzzled him so; Ellison and Sandburg were strangers to him. Oh well, every doctor had his quirks…

 

The other man stepped aside, opening the door for McCoy with a flourish.

 

“Nice to talk to you, Dr McCoy.” That easy smile was very knowing, somehow. McCoy gave him a suitably friendly nod, making to leave, but then stopped.

 

“You know,” he said ruefully. “All this time I’ve been trying to recall your name. I really can’t remember it. I do apologise.”

 

The other man beamed.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, Doctor! I’m very new. Been here hardly a day, in fact, and you know, something tells me, I’ll be moving on again fairly soon.” He peered closely at McCoy. “Sure you’re feeling okay, Doctor?”

 

McCoy was suddenly conscious of a roaring in his ears; the room seemed to be swimming in and out of focus. The X-rays slipped from his grasp.

 

“Oh dear…” he managed. He felt his arm being taken in a firm grip, and he was led to a chair at the back wall, just in time before his legs collapsed under him. He watched, quite detached and unable to move, while the other man took his pulse expertly and then patted his cheek.

 

“It’s just a mild sedative, Doctor. You’ll be right as rain in a few hours. But I need a little space for my next trick, you see.”

 

The man got up from his crouch and walked across the room to where McCoy could now see a folded wheelchair had been parked, leaning up against the wall near the door. The man unclipped it and shook it into shape, then turned to open the door. At the threshold, leaning on the handles, he looked back again with that charming smile. McCoy, fading fast, could only just make out his parting words. 

 

“But if anyone asks about me later – Detective Ellison, for instance – you can tell him I sent my regards. The name’s Brackett - Lee Brackett.”

 

_-fin-_


End file.
